TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Japanese industrial production fell in July, disappointing both investors and the government, who had been forecasting gains on the back of healthy exports.
Output at Japanese factories fell 0.4 percent in July from June, when production dropped 0.2 percent, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday.
A Reuters survey of economists had produced a consensus expectation of a rise of 0.9 percent, seasonally adjusted.
The ministry said shipments fell 0.6 percent month on month, while inventories rose 0.6 percent.
The inventories to shipments ratio fell 3.7 percent.
The drop in factory output came after 0.5 percent rise in gross domestic product for the April-June quarter, announced at the same time by the Cabinet Office.
It was the second consecutive quarter of economic expansion.
Industrial production rose 3.3 percent from year-ago levels, the first year-on-year rise since January 2001.